Vaccine and COVID-19 Trajectories

Abstract

Vaccine equity holds the key to ending the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Yet most prior work on vaccine equity has compared vaccine uptake across neighborhoods with varying sociodemographic composition or assessed whether vaccine disparity across neighborhoods has diminished over time. Researchers seldom examine the extent to which vaccination helps reduce inequalities in the prevalence of COVID-19 across neighborhoods. Using administrative data from the City of Toronto, the authors compare the vaccine trajectories of neighborhoods with low, moderate, and high COVID-19 rates. The authors also examine whether disparities in COVID-19 rates have narrowed or widened as vaccinations have become more available. By mid-June 2021, differences in vaccination rates by neighborhoods’ COVID-19 levels were small, but disparities in COVID-19 rates across neighborhoods persisted. Equality in vaccination rates is not a silver bullet to reducing inequalities in COVID-19 infections across neighborhoods with varying sociodemographic characteristics and likely variations in exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

COVID‐19 vaccine equity in doldrums: Good governance deficits

“…Even in the United States about 71% of the population does not have the opportunity of working from home so they more easily become victims of coronavirus (Hyder et al., 2021 ). This reflection coincides with the findings of several empirical studies affirming that racial minorities, immigrants, and the socio‐economically disadvantaged have had disproportionately higher rate of coronavirus infection case as well as fatality (Choi, Denice, Haan, & Zajacova, 2021 ; Choi, Denice, & Ramaj, 2021 ; Wrigley‐Field et al., 2020 ). Given these consideration, it can be expected that the mutual relationship between vaccine inequity and poverty reduction in the current context will be ruinous, driving several groups within the population either to become members of the “new poor” or to remain trapped in vicious poverty.…”

Socioeconomic Variation in the Relationship Between Neighbourhoods’ Built Environments and the Spread of COVID-19 in Toronto, Canada

“…Additionally, a higher percentage of foreign-born residents was associated with a slower pace of spread of COVID-19 in middle-and high-income neighbourhoods and a faster spread in low-income neighborhoods. Due to their sustained close contact with their country of origin, some of these immigrants may have been aware of the public health mandates used in countries that were more successful at containing COVID-19 (Choi et al, 2021a(Choi et al, , 2021b. They may have adopted some of those preventive measures at the onset of the pandemic, which helped curb the spread of COVID-19 in their neighbourhoods (e.g., East Asian immigrants wore masks at higher rates earlier in the pandemic).…”

“…The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic further highlights the importance of one's neighbourhood as a determinant of their health. Low-income neighbourhoods with high shares of racial minority and foreign-born residents have had disproportionately high COVID-19 infection and fatality rates (Choi et al, 2021a(Choi et al, , 2021bMein, 2020;Patel et al, 2020;Rollston & Galea, 2020). Furthermore, many public health measures designed to curb the spread of the virus depend on the availability and usage of neighbourhoods' built environments.…”

Population Segmentation for COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach: A Clustering Analysis and Implementation in Missouri

“…For instance, uptake was higher for older than for younger people, with 95% of the individuals 65 years and older having received at least one dose compared with only 82% of individuals aged 18 to 24 years 1. In addition, communities of color were, and continue to be, disproportionately affected by both the virus2,3 and low vaccine uptake 4,5. At the root of these disparate levels of vaccine acceptance has been not just vaccine access issues but also a variety of types of vaccine hesitancy—from feelings of invincibility in the young,6 mistrust of the health care system often among Black or African Americans due to historical and institutional racism,7,8 to resistance linked with different political affiliations 9…”

“…1 In addition, communities of color were, and continue to be, disproportionately affected by both the virus 2,3 and low vaccine uptake. 4,5 At the root of these disparate levels of vaccine acceptance has been not just vaccine access issues but also a variety of types of vaccine hesitancy-from feelings of invincibility in the young, 6 mistrust of the health care system often among Black or African Americans due to historical and institutional racism, 7,8 to resistance linked with different political affiliations. 9 In response to the pressing need to encourage vaccination, public health entities at the local, state, and national levels crafted numerous innovative outreach strategies.…”